Police arrest 11 people in Catania's drug trafficking crackdown

In recent days, the State Police have intensified their efforts to monitor and crack down on drug dealing in the city. During the week of August 15th, officers from the Catania Police Headquarters' Flying Squad conducted a thorough inspection of all Catania neighborhoods, particularly those areas where drug dealing had been reported in the past. This was done to identify potential dealers and eliminate potential sources of income for criminals from the market. Additionally, numerous street checks were conducted, and surprise searches were carried out at various times throughout the day at several homes, particularly in the neighborhoods of San Berillo Nuovo, Librino, San Cristoforo, and San Giovanni Galermo. Thanks to extensive and varied enforcement operations, Flying Squad officers arrested a total of 11 people, all from Catania, while maintaining the presumption of innocence of the suspects, which remains valid until a final conviction. They also seized over 1,200 doses of narcotics, including crack, cocaine, and marijuana, with a potential turnover of several thousand euros. The drugs were seized for appropriate scientific analysis and subsequent destruction, as ordered by the judicial authorities.

Among the seized drugs was a type of marijuana, already the subject of recent enforcement operations, found to be adulterated with dangerous synthetic cannabinoids, capable of producing devastating hallucinogenic effects in users. Specifically, this is a new-generation drug that can pose a serious health risk, even causing death. The adulteration is often carried out using THC-free cannabis, using empirical methods that involve high and uncontrolled doses of the adulterants. During the operations, drug dealing centers equipped with crack rooms, reinforced doors, grilles, and sophisticated video surveillance systems, capable of screening users to prevent unintended arrests by law enforcement, were also seized and dismantled.

– photo by the State Police press office –